A Better Guild
by Divinion
Summary: One-Shot. After Phantom Lord has been defeated, Juvia comes to Gajeel with thoughts of joining the enemy Fairy Tail guild


**Hey there Fairy Tail Fans!**

 **We inturrupt the normal World Without Zeref storyline to give you this one-shot idea I came up with today. I'm not usually a huge fan of either of these characters, and this is certainly not a ship, but I just thought this was a cute idea. Obviously this is set straight after FT defeat Phantom Lord.**

 **Reviews are always adored. Seriously, your comments, its like a drug to me.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

The iron dragon slayer sat alone, hunched over himself as he licked his wounds. He yanked hard on the metal carcass of some abandoned magical transportation, his muscles flexing as he ripped apart the rusting sheets from the creaking pillars. He winced, feeling his entire body ache from the sudden exertion, cursing his previous defeat and reminding himself why it was so important to take his feast. Fairy Tail had depleted more than his physical energy. He bit hard against the sheet, chewing and crunching the hard material and feeling the magical energy gradually coming back to him.

Gradually he became aware of the audience but made no attempt to acknowledge the blue haired woman. He continued to bend over, his figure disappearing into a red shadow as the sun hovered over the horizon, taking bites of the metal and occasionally flinching as he struck another aching wound. Raindrops were beginning to fall, though he knew better than to complain while in the company of the rain woman, even if he refused to greet her.

The woman looked away for a moment, twisting the umbrella handle in her hand. She could feel a blush resting against her cheeks, not wanting to rub salt into their wounds. They had both lost to Fairy Tail, their guild's name had been tarnished, and as two of the most powerful names in the guild it had been their failure that rested heaviest against their shoulders. Juvia had been one of the pillars of her guild, a trusted Element Four, and she had felt weakened as soon as she rested eyes against the ice mage. Though she accepted her defeat gracefully, she couldn't help but feel some shame. The guild hadn't been the same since their encounter with Fairy Tail and she didn't know if it was her nakama that had changed or the way that she saw them.

She slowly took a seat beside Gajeel, sat facing the opposite direction to the dragon slayer, rain covering them both in a steaming cloud of misery. The umbrella was held low over her face and she knew her words would only be audible to the heightened senses of the slayer, but they would need to be spoken in some confidence. "Phantom Lord feels different," she commented softly, as if speaking into the wind itself.

Gajeel yanked on the next piece with more violence than before, the splintering destruction crying even over the growing storm. "It's just a guild. What do you expect?" he asked in a gruff voice.

Juvia looked up at the dark clouds that had surrounded her since the day she was born. She had felt that she would never see a beautiful blue sky, that she would never feel any kind of hope. She had given up on the idea of warmth a long time ago but there had been something about the attacking guild that had rekindled the hope in her heart. It wasn't just the mysterious dark haired stranger, it had been a light in his eyes, a light that they all held. "A guild can be a home. A good guild," she murmured under her breath, watching the grey sky for a hint of a slither of blue. "Do you think it's possible?"

Gajeel scoffed, tearing off a bite with his sharp teeth. "Maybe for people like you," he said, still refusing to turn around to the woman behind him.

Juvia felt a small smile cross her face, realising exactly what Gajeel meant. The Iron Dragon Slayer had felt somewhat like an elder brother at times and she had felt a softness in his heart that he bitterly refused to show the world. Though she had no idea what could have created the hard shell he used to protect his heart, she knew that deep inside there was goodness still there that deserved so much more than Phantom Lord. She also understood that, in a way that would not incriminate himself, he was telling her that she was too good for Phantom Lord too. He was telling her that there was still hope. And just like that, as she looked up at the sky she could see the smallest of breaks in the clouds, even as the rain continued to pour. "Juvia thinks it's possible for you too, Gajeel," she said, leaning further backwards and putting her hand against the rock below her, supporting herself as she gazed upwards at the growing good weather.

Gajeel paused, hearing her words and knowing that she too was speaking cryptically. In all of their years in the dark guild the two S-Class wizards had learnt to communicate with each other in a way that they could make their true intentions clear and not show their consciences to the outside world. He had truly been too good for Phantom Lord, but he would have never seen it that way. He turned even further from her as he felt her leaning closer, pretending that he was pulling on the furthest part of the machinery. He wanted to believe that he had misinterpreted her, knowing that it was ridiculous for her to even imply he would be able to join an official guild. Juvia was pure, she was sweet deep down and he was a dark and chaotic mess. It was a wonder that the two of them had managed this far. "Whatever, shorty," he grimaced.

Juvia smiled to herself, seeing that the clear sky above was beginning to peer through the clouds. There existed a guild that felt like home and though they had barely spoken she felt after the brief conversation that someone else had believed she could truly belong. She pulled herself back to her feet, knowing the fight to convince Gajeel that he was worthy of joining Fairy Tail too would take a far longer battle and most of his conflicts would be fought internally. To press any further now would cause the stubborn slayer to push himself into a corner. They had already lost one recent battle and wounds were still fresh. "Juvia doesn't mind losing to a worthy guild. Juvia thinks that Gajeel shouldn't either. Juvia knows that Gajeel fought his very hardest," she offered him.

Gajeel grunted something along the lines of a 'thanks' but he certainly didn't feel the same. He was bitter that he had lost and was already planning his next battle with the fire dragon slayer and how he would refuse to be beaten this time.

He glanced up as he heard the rain woman's steps gently growing more distant, realising that this was possibly the last time that he would speak to his old friend. "Juvia…" he glanced back, finally meeting the woman's clear blue eyes. He knew as he looked at her that she was no longer a part of Phantom Lord; even if she still wore the mark her heart had already flown. The guild was close to crumbling anyway but losing one of the element four would be its final destruction. He found it hard to feel sorrow for the guild that had offered him little love over the years, but it would be an annoyance to try and find another dark guild to take him in. At least Juvia had the chance to make it in the real world, if she could only focus her mind and finally take care of herself. "Whatever you do, don't do it for a guy this time," he grumbled under his breath.

Juvia's face turned suddenly bright red. She knew that Gajeel was remembering her previous partner, the one who had brought her straight into the arms of Phantom Lord in the first place after crushing her heart into a thousand pieces. Only a monster would be with a rain woman when they couldn't stand the rain, but she had felt like she had been the monstrous one. She had felt like a mistake, a curse, something that should have been disposed of. She had run straight into the dark guild like a moth to a flame. What stung was the fact that she was once again falling for her heart. The ice mage burned the back of her eyelids when she closed her eyes, his memory filled her every dream and his body filled her every waking thought. There had been something truly magical about their encounter, the compatibility of their magic, the excitement that had rushed through her body as soon as she saw him. It went beyond a physical attraction, more than just an attraction to the one man. There had been something about every one of the enemies she had faced which gave her a strange sense of hope. Without the ice mage, she was certain that the same questions would still twist through her mind, the same desperate search for family, nakama and home, desires that she had barely even acknowledged existed before.

Even now, as the images, hopes and dreams blazed in her mind, the dark clouds began to part. The rain pulled back into the tiniest of droplets and for the first time in so many years the rain woman was able to pull away her umbrella and let her body bathe in the red setting sun. "Juvia isn't doing this for a man," she said honestly. "Juvia is doing this for Juvia. Juvia is doing this for the chance to see the sky."

Gajeel looked in amazement as the rain finally parted. He didn't understand it, but if he had been a less proud man he probably would have ran and hugged the water witch, congratulated her on finally being able to control her powers enough to lead a normal life. Phantom Lord, in all of its darkness and flaws, had been caring towards Juvia, and every one of them would have been thrilled to see her with enough happiness in her heart to combat the continual grey clouds. He smiled with the familiar 'gihi' sound through his teeth. And he turned away, because goodbyes were too hard to handle, and far too emotional.

Juvia smiled to herself as she too turned on her heel and began to walk away, her umbrella dragging through the ground beside her, knowing that she would do everything in her power to make sure that this wasn't goodbye forever.


End file.
